Maker's Mark adding water to cut bourbon's potency

8:35 AM,
Feb. 12, 2013

This file still frame image made from video provided by Maker's Mark Distillery Inc., shows a bottle of Maker's Mark in an advertisement. The producer of Maker's Mark bourbon is cutting ? likely permanently ? the amount of alcohol in each bottle to stretch every drop of the famous Kentucky whiskey. The alcohol volume is being lowered from its historic level of 45 percent to 42 percent ? or 90 proof to 84 proof. (AP Photo/Marker's Mark Distillery Inc., File)

Written by

Chris Otts
Louisville Courier-Journal

Your next glass of Maker's Mark will be a little less potent, and the son of the man who founded the famous Kentucky bourbon says it's all his fault.

In an interview Monday, Chairman Emeritus Bill Samuels Jr. said he failed to foresee a worldwide surge in demand for premium bourbon when he was still in charge of the brand about six years ago. As a result, Maker's Mark is being diluted to 42 percent alcohol by volume, from 45 percent, so more of the whiskey can be bottled to meet demand. That's a cut from 90 proof to 84 proof.

"I was the forecaster in chief around here. ... I must have been asleep at the ...